Join the Biennial for a night of architecture, food, drinks, music—and comics! Galleries will stay open late. Doors open at 5:30. Event begins at 6:15. Limited seating available.
To attend, RSVP Here.
Two cartoonists (Edie Fake and Keiler Roberts) and two architects from UIC School of Architecture (Ania Jaworska and Sam Jacob) discuss the depiction of space and time and the representation of worlds real and imagined, among other links between comics and architecture. Following this conversation, moderated by comics scholar Brian Cremins, Neil Brideau, cartoonist and organizer for CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo), will lead a live comics-making workshop.
DJ Greg Corner will be spinning music.
Pick up a free button designed by our panelists, made live by Busy Beaver Buttons.
Books and other items by our panelists available for purchase.
Free drinks! Bar sponsored by Lagunitas and Perrier.
Caribbean food for purchase from Garifuna Flava.
This program is presented in partnership with the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Chicago Alternative Comics Expo.
Edie Fake’s drawings, comic books, and publications have been written about in Artforum, Chicago Reader, The Comics Journal, ART21, the Guardian, Hyperallergic, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He was one of the first recipients of Printed Matter’s Awards for Artists, and his collection of comics, Gaylord Phoenix, won the 2011 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including in group shows at MASS Gallery in Austin, John Connelly Presents in New York City, the Nikolaj Museum in Copenhagen, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, and Threewalls in Chicago. Fake was born in Chicagoland and received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He recently dropped out of the Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Keiler Roberts studied art at the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. She teaches comics at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and lives in Evanston, Illinois, with her husband, daughter, and dog. Her autobiographical comic Powdered Milk can be seen at keilerroberts.com. She has received several Ignatz Award nominations, including for Best New Talent and Outstanding Series in 2014.
Ania Jaworska is an architect and educator. She currently teaches art, design, and architecture courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her practice focuses on exploring the connection between art and architecture through bold simple forms, humor, commentary, and conceptual, historic, and cultural references. Jaworska’s work was presented as part of 13178 Moran Street: Grounds for Detroit in Common Ground, the 13th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2012), and CHGO DSGN at the Chicago Cultural Center (2014). She recently completed a design for the bookstore at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, which is currently on view. Her solo show BMO Harris Bank Chicago Works: Ania Jaworska is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago until January 31, 2016. She holds a master’s in Architecture from the Cracow University of Technology in Poland and from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan.
Sam Jacob is Principal of Sam Jacob Studio for architecture and design. His work spans scales and disciplines ranging from master planning and urban design to architecture, design, and art projects. Current projects include a master plan for 250 homes, the reinvention of a 1980s business park, a mixed-use development in London’s Shoreditch, and a public art commission for Milton Keynes. Previously, Jacob was a Founding Director of FAT Architecture, where he was involved in internationally acclaimed projects including the BBC drama production village in Cardiff and the curation of the British Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale. He has exhibited at leading galleries and museums including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the MAK in Vienna, and the Biennale. A contributing editor to Icon and columnist for Art Review and Dezeen, he regularly participates in talks and events for institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Southbank Centre, and Sir John Soane’s Museum. Jacob is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture, and Director of Night School at the Architectural Association.
Brian Cremins is a Programming Coordinator for the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) and an Associate Professor of English at Harper College. His essays on comics have appeared in Studies in American Humor, the Journal of Medical Humanities, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and in the collection Comics and the U. S. South. He is now working on his first book, a study of comics, nostalgia, and the work of C. C. Beck and Otto Binder, for the University Press of Mississippi.
The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) is a weekend-long celebration of independent comics, inspired by Chicago’s rich legacy as home to many of underground and alternative comics’ most talented artists—past, present, and future. Featuring comics for sale, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions, and more, CAKE is dedicated to fostering community and dialogue among independent artists, small presses, publishers, and readers.